Car makers fight EU air-con ban

Auto industry group ACEA want the EU to delay the agreed 2011 ban on certain chemicals in air-conditioning systems.

ACEA feels its members have not had enough time to develop new systems, which wouldn’t feature climate-damaging chemicals such as R134a.

The ruling was passed in 2006, and a legal loophole was closed in April which would have allowed ACEA members to avoid the ban until 2017.

An ACEA letter to the European Commission said: “Car manufacturers need sufficient lead-time of at least two-three years past 1 January, 2011, to adjust to the changed situation.

“ACEA requests that the Commission work with the member states to find a pragmatic solution.”

Last year, ACEA successfully lobbied the EU into delaying an EU plan to cut carbon dioxide emissions from cars.

It is estimated that manufacturers would need to invest an extra £35 to £170 per car to meet the new requirements, an expense they would be unwilling to pass onto consumers in the current economic climate.